Much of my love for the Downtown Eastside stems from a structural functionalism perspective. Essentially, the neighbourhood is a vital part of the city and conducts a series of jobs to keep Vancouver moving, much like an organ of a body. Everybody has a role in society, and we all do our job to keep the whole thing going.
To this end, we look today at the United We Can bottle depot, currently located at 39 E Hastings, and how the charitable society has been utilizing residents of the Downtown Eastside as front-line warriors in the city's implementation of the Greenest City 2020 Action Plan.
The depot processes 50,000 drink containers a day, dropped off by binners who spend their days travelling back and forth around Vancouver picking up those cans and bottles that never quite find their way to a recycling can.
While these binners are motivated mainly by the deposit return they collect, their actions also significantly contribute to proper recycling efforts and keep the parks and streets of Vancouver beautiful. I'm not advocating willful littering, but you drop a can almost anywhere downtown, you can be assured it will find its way to a recycling depot by the next day. Binning is a serious business, and United We Can estimates it provides over two million dollars of refunds every year.
I went down to the bottle depot the other morning to talk the binners lining up with their packed shopping carts to try to understand how important the depot is to them.
One binner, who gave his name only as Klint, told me how binning was a great way to feed himself everyday after the majority of his welfare cheque went towards paying for his SRO room.
"It gives me something to do everyday, allows me to get out and see the city," he said, "and at the end of the day, I have enough money to get something to eat. That's not bad, that's pretty good."
Klint says that on a good day he can walk out with $10 to $15, depending on his haul.
"You have to recognize the hot spots, and you have to be there first," he said. "It helps to get businesses and restaurants on your side and leave their bottles for you, that's huge."
Founded in 1995, United We Can is based on the principle of "green-collar" employment for Downtown Eastside residents, putting them to work processing recyclables, as well as an initiative with the city of Vancouver that hires barrier employees to clean and sanitize nearly 70 city blocks, picking up garbage and syringes. In total, they provide employment for 120 people.
The centre will soon move a couple of kilometres east to 455 Industrial Ave, as their current location is being redeveloped by Atira Women's Resource Society to house below-market housing units, half of which will be reserved for women. The new location promises to be bigger and better, allowing for faster processing of binners and more employment opportunities.
The move away from the heart of the eastside will also hopefully curb the drug dealers who currently operate out front of the depot, preying on the binners and their newly earned cash. When contacted however, the VPD was understandably hesitant to make any correlations. Randy Finchman, VPD media relations officer, would only describe such scenarios as "speculation" and stressed that there were a number of factors that contribute to crime and drug dealing in the Downtown Eastside.
Either way, United We Can has empowered DTES residents to help the city go green, and the new location promises to expand these services even further. Everybody has a role in Vancouver, even the most marginalized.
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